You have started a business, or maybe your startup is growing. Managing your customer relationships is becoming harder and harder, and you just want a tool that will help take the chaos out of your day-to-day tasks. As an SaaS, we get it; we’ve been there. And that’s exactly where a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) solution comes in. In this guide, you’ll learn which user-friendly and budget-friendly CRMs free up your time and help you focus on what matters most: growing your business.
The best CRMs for small businesses at a glance
| CRM | Best for | Highlight | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoho CRM | Customization | Extensive customization options (fields, modules, workflows) | Free | Standard: $14/user/month (billed annually) |
| HubSpot Starter | Marketing and sales integration | Robust free version with advanced sales & marketing tools | Free | Marketing Hub Starter: $15/user/month (annually) |
| Notion | Project & task management | Highly customizable workspace for managing projects and tasks | Free | Plus: $10/user/month (billed annually) |
| Freshsales | Sales automation | AI-powered lead scoring and workflow automation | Free | Growth: $9/user/month (billed annually) |
| Capsule | Ease of use | Intuitive interface with customizable sales pipelines | Free | Starter: $18/user/month (billed annually) |
| SendPulse CRM | Multi-channel marketing automation | Advanced lead nurturing | Free | Lite: $12/user/month (billed annually) |
| Less Annoying CRM | Simplicity | Easy setup | $15/user/month (free trial available) |
What should you look for in a CRM for a small business?
Basically, you need the easiest and most affordable CRM you can get. Scalability can be a factor to consider, but let’s take it step by step. Here are some aspects you can have in mind when choosing your tool:
- Ease of use: A CRM should have a clean, intuitive interface that is easy for your team to learn and use. This will reduce training time and increase productivity right from the start.
- Customization: Your CRM should adapt to the way you work, not the other way around. Look for a solution that lets you easily tweak fields, modules, and workflows until they perfectly fit your needs.
- Integrations: Ensure the tool can integrate with the tools and platforms you already use, such as email clients, marketing software, and project management tools.
- Automation and AI: Automation features can save time (and money) by handling repetitive tasks like follow-up emails, data entry, and lead scoring. Look for CRMs with strong automation and AI capabilities.
- Price: Consider the pricing structure and whether it fits within your budget. Some tools are free to use, and their features might be everything you need, at least for now.
- Customer support: We all like good customer support, especially during the initial setup and when issues arise. Check the tool’s support options, such as live chat, email, or phone support.
- Scalability: It might not be top-of-mind for a smaller team right now, but it’s still worth choosing a CRM that won’t break a sweat if your company grows.
1. Zoho CRM
🥇 Best for: Customization
✨ Highlight: Extensive customization options, including custom fields, modules, and workflows
💲 Price: Free | Standard: $14/user/month (billed annually)
Zoho CRM offers a highly customizable platform, allowing your business to tailor fields, modules, and workflows to your specific needs. This ensures that your company can adapt the CRM to its unique processes, enhancing efficiency and user experience. It also provides a scalable solution without the need for long-term commitments.
2. HubSpot Starter
🥇 Best for: Marketing and sales integration
✨ Highlight: Robust free version with advanced sales and marketing tools
💲 Price: Free | Marketing Hub Starter: $15/user/month (billed annually)
HubSpot CRM offers a robust free version that includes essential features such as contact, deal, and task management; email tracking; document sharing; meeting scheduling; and live chat. The tool makes an excellent choice for businesses seeking an integrated platform for marketing and sales activities. Also, the free plan supports up to 1,000,000 contacts and provides unlimited data storage, which can accommodate substantial growth without immediate costs.
3. Notion
🥇 Best for: Project and task management
✨ Highlight: Highly customizable workspace ideal for managing projects and tasks
💲 Price: Free | Plus: $10/user/month (billed annually)
Notion is not always the most popular choice for CRM purposes, but it offers many CRM templates that can be customized to fit various business needs. Its versatility makes it an excellent tool for managing projects and tasks, with the added benefit of being adaptable for customer relationship management. The Plus plan also provides a 30-day version history, enabling users to track changes and revert to previous versions if necessary. Additionally, it supports up to 100 guest collaborators, facilitating broader collaboration.
4. Freshsales
🥇 Best for: Sales automation
✨ Highlight: AI-powered lead scoring and workflow automation
💲 Price: Free | Growth: $9/user/month (billed annually)
Freshsales offers a free plan suitable for small teams, featuring contact and account management, deal management, and built-in email and phone capabilities. The Growth plan, at $9 per user per month (billed annually), adds AI-powered contact scoring, sales sequences, and up to 2,000 bot sessions per month. Freshsales can also be a scalable solution for startups and businesses aiming to enhance their sales processes with automation and AI-driven insights.
5. Capsule
🥇 Best for: Ease of use
✨ Highlight: Intuitive interface with customizable sales pipelines
💲 Price: Free | Starter: $18/user/month (billed annually)
Capsule CRM offers a free plan suitable for small teams, supporting up to 2 users and 250 contacts. This plan includes basic features such as contact management, sales pipeline, and project management tools. For growing businesses, the Starter plan is available at $18 per user per month (billed annually), providing expanded capabilities like 30,000 contacts, email templates, AI-powered email assistance, shared mailbox, and premium integrations with tools like Xero and Mailchimp.
6. SendPulse CRM
🥇 Best for: Multi-channel marketing automation
✨ Highlight: Advanced lead nurturing
💲 Price: Free | Lite: $12/user/month (billed annually)
SendPulse CRM stands out for its easy integration with other marketing tools, packed with features such as sales pipeline management, automatic deal creation, and assigning team members to specific tasks. Its integration with chatbots, email services, and landing pages enables your business to centralize customer interactions and optimize sales.
7. Less Annoying CRM
🥇 Best for: Simplicity
✨ Highlight: Easy setup
💲 Price: $15/user/month with free trial available
Less Annoying CRM lives up to its name by providing a simple and intuitive platform for managing customer relationships. It offers a single, all-inclusive plan at $15 per user per month, providing unlimited contacts and companies, customizable pipelines, task and event tracking, and 25GB of file storage per user. Designed with small businesses in mind, the tool emphasizes ease of use and straightforward functionality, also including free email and phone support.
Conclusion
These CRMs bring a whole lot of ease to small businesses and startups, letting you manage deals, automate repetitive tasks, and stay organized without breaking the bank. From Zoho’s flexible customization to HubSpot’s powerful marketing features, each tool can scale as your team grows. Capsule, Freshsales, and others also excel at making day-to-day tasks more efficient, all while fitting your budget and focusing on what matters most—fostering solid customer relationships.
Notion can double as a CRM, but that’s just the beginning. It’s a flexible workspace where your team can stay on top of notes, projects, and tasks all in one place. By customizing templates to capture contacts, deals, and more, Notion becomes a powerful tool for managing customers.
Even better, you also get slick features like Kanban boards, wikis, and real-time collaboration, making it a comprehensive solution for business productivity.
Also, connecting Notion to external apps is the best way to be productive and use a CRM. That’s why we created 2sync. With seamless two-way sync for Google Calendar, Todoist, and more, 2sync keeps tasks and events updated across platforms.
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